Organ swell-box.



L. S. LOCKWOOD.

ORGAN SWELL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 30.1915.

1,225,666. Patented May 8, 1917.

INVENTUR ATTURNEY:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS S. LOGKWOOD, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THERIJ'DOLPH WURLITZER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK,A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ORGAN swarm-Box.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May S, 191 7.

Application filed June 30, 1915. Serial N 0. 37,181.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS S. Looxwoon, a citizen of the United States,residing at North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara and State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Organ Swell-Boxes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Heretofore the shutters of such sWellboxes have been beveled at theiredges and arranged to overlap when closed, but by this arrangementadjacent shutters strike against each other in closing, producing anobjectionable noise.

One of the objects of my invention is to improve the construction of theshutters with a view of overcoming this objection and rendering thempractically noiseless.

A further object is the provision of inexpensive means for absorbing ormufliing the sounds from the pipes in the swell box when the shuttersare closed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a shutterbox embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22,Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, on an enlarged scale,of the front wall of the box, taken centrally through one of theshutters. Fig. 4 is a similar view, on a further enlarged scale, of theupper rail of the swell box and the adjacent portion of a shutter. Fig.5 is an enlarged horizontal section of one of the shutters and theadjacent stiles of the swell box.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

1 indicates the rear wall and 2 the side walls of the swell box whichmay be of any suitable construction. The front wall of the box consistsprincipally of a series of spaced stiles or uprights 3 secured at theirends to the upper and lower rails 4 and 5 of said wall, and rotaryshutters 6 fitted in the openings between the stiles and provided attheir upper and lower ends with central pivots 7 and 8 of any suitableconstruction. In the preferred construction shown, the lower pivot ofeach shutter rests upon a suitable ball bearing 9 carried by the lowerrail 5. The upper pivot 7 is seated in a similar ball bearing 10arranged in a recess 11 in the base of the upper rail 4, said pivothaving a collar 12 upon which the lower race-ring 13 of the bearing isseated. Resting upon the upper race-ring 14 of the bear ing andinclosing both of said rings is a cap 15, and lying upon this cap is adisk plate 16. 17 is a vertical adjusting screw engaging a threadedopening in the lower portion of the top rail 4 and bearing upon saiddisk, whereby any looseness of the shutter due to shrinkage, warping orother causes may be conveniently taken up. Access is had to the head ofthis screw through a horizontal mortise 18 formed in the side of the toprail 4 or through a vertical mortise 19 extending downwardly from itsupper edge, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The front wall of the swell box preferably has a door 20 through whichit may be entered to adjust the screws 17 or for other purposes.

As best shown in Fig. 5, the shutters are provided with convex edges 21and the opposing stiles are provided with corresponding concave edges22, said concave and con vex edges being curved concentrically with theshutter pivots. By this construction, the shutters may be closely fittedbetween the stiles and yet closed without interfering with the stiles,avoiding the knocking noise incident to the impact of overlappingshutters and rendering them practically noiseless in action. Thisconstruction also affords a comparatively wide and extensive jointbetween the shutters and the stiles.

In order to prevent as far as possible the escape of sound from theswell-box when the shutters are closed, the stiles are provided in theiredges with upright grooves or recesses 23 extending throughout theirheight, and the shutters are provided in their opposing edges withcorresponding grooves 24 arranged to register with those of the stileswhen the shutters are closed, as shown in Fig. 5. A plurality of suchregistering grooves are preferably employed, a series of three at eachside of the shutter, as shown, having been found very satisfactory.These registering grooves form wind traps in which the air or soundexpands I'ena l grooves in said edges, and a rotary shutpeatedly 1npasslng from the interior to the ter fitted between said stiles andprovided.

exterior of the shutter box, thus weakening with convex edges andlongitudinal grooves or deadening the sound. in said edges arranged toregister with the 5 I claim as my invention: grooves of the stiles inthe closed position An organ swell-box having spaced stiles of theshutter. provided with concave edges and longitudi- LOUIS S. LOCKWOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

